This month, Franklin Regional staff held a tug-of-war contest with students. It was part of the kickoff for the fourth annual Kids of Steel program at the district’s intermediate school.
Kids of Steel was conceived by P3R, the nonprofit organization that manages the marathon and some 15 other running events in the Pittsburgh area. With the goal of making exercise a regular part of children’s daily lives, P3R now operates the program at more than 300 locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, with one international chapter in South Africa.
“Our goal is for kids to have fun as they exercise, so they’ll continue that fitness journey throughout their lives,” said P3R’s Youth Programming Vice President Amy Schuneman. “We provide all our sites with a curriculum and support materials, and their goal is to obtain ‘exercise miles.’ ”
And while P3R may specialize in running events, children don’t have to undertake a marathon to make their goal — roughly 15 minutes of aerobic exercise is the equivalent of walking or jogging a mile, Schuneman said.
“The program gets implemented in different ways,” she said. “Some do it in gym classes, some do after-school programs. We also have after-school sites with Girl Scout troops that do it, YMCAs and community groups that do it.”
At Franklin Regional, 275 students have registered so far for this year’s program. They will train and run a total 25.2 miles (or its exercise equivalent), and then will complete the final mile of their journey at the annual Chick-Fil-A Pittsburgh Kids’ Marathon.
“Programs don’t have to take part in that. It’s optional,” Schuneman said. “But it’s a great way to celebrate completing the program, and we do provide some grants to our schools to help offset the cost if they want to participate.”
Franklin Regional officials received a $1,000 P3R grant to help offset the cost of transporting Kids of Steel participants to the marathon.
Kiski Area began participating in Kids of Steel last year at its North Primary School and kicked off this year’s program Feb. 12.
“We already have 60 kids signed up to run the race in Pittsburgh, and we had about 150 students who do the in-house activities, which will start for us on March 7,” said Kiski’s K-6 Curriculum and Instruction Director Emily Mather. “Every Tuesday, we open the gym early at 8 a.m., and they come in to do Kids of Steel activities with our teachers who come in ahead of time.”
In addition to taking part in the kids’ marathon, program participants are also invited to the annual Kids of Steel Fest, which will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. April 5 at P3R’s track and field at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Complex on Neville Island.
Mather said Kiski’s team wore bright yellow shirts to the marathon last year.
“It’s a great, fun way to be active, and it’s great to see our teachers volunteering their time for it on a Saturday in May,” she said.
Schuneman said last year’s kids’ marathon had more than 8,600 youth participants, making it the largest youth race in America.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at [email protected].
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